Municipal Conservation Easement Program
Municipal Conservation Easement Program
A Guide to help municipalities create a conservation easement program
The Issue / Idea
How can municipalities help landowners conserve their land for the future by using a conservation easement?
The Project
Flagstaff County in east-central Alberta has been working towards better protecting the valuable landscapes within its communities. After being approached by a local landowner about granting a conservation easement to the County, Flagstaff approached Miistakis about helping them establish a Conservation Easement program (municipalities are ‘qualified organizations’ under the Alberta Land Stewardship Act, eligible to hold conservation easements).
Working with the County’s Agricultural Service Board, Miistakis helped them draft a conservation easement bylaw, and tailor the policy to their draft Municipal Development Plan.
Once the decision was made to go ahead with implementation, Miistakis worked with the County to identify the conservation goals, and specific administrative needs. Miistakis then developed several implementation resources including a program procedures manual, a conservation easement template, a Baseline Documentation Report manual and template, a monitoring template, and several other templates and resources.
Flagstaff County is now moving ahead to negotiate conservation easements with interested ratepayers in their community.
Flagstaff County Conservation Easement Program: Procedures Manual
Flagstaff County Conservation Easement Program: Conservation Easement Checklists
Organization
This project was undertaken by
The Miistakis Institute
Status
Completed in
2017
Supporters
Flagstaff County
The Scope of Municipal Powers and the Environment
The Scope of Municipal Powers and the Environment
Part 1 of the Municipalities and Environmental Law Series
The Issue / Idea
Municipalities may be unclear as to the role they can play in environmental management.
The Project
Municipal decision-making is increasingly vital to effective environmental management. Today’s municipalities play a central role in developing human settlements and green spaces, managing water bodies, and regulating the ways in which these are impacted. In order to do so, municipalities rely on a variety of legislation that empowers them to make decisions and take action in this regard. The following publication is intended to clarify the sources and the scope of municipal authority with respect to the environment.
Report: The Scope of Municipal Powers and the Environment
Organization
This project was undertaken by
The Environmental Law Centre
Status
Development of this publication began with the Municipalities and Environmental Law information series in Fall of 2016, and was completed in
November 2017
Supporters
Max Bell Foundation
Anonymous Foundation
Conservation Easement Guide for Municipalities
A Conservation Easement Guide for Municipalities
A practical how-to guide for municipalities considering holding conservation easements or establishing a conservation easement program
The Issue / Idea
Municipalities are eligible holders of conservation easements, but have very little information on how – and why – municipalities might go about using this tool.
The Project
To respond to the issue, the Miistakis Institute developed a ‘How To’ guide that informs municipalities about what conservation easements are, the municipal considerations for using this tool, details on what a conservation easement includes, and direction on how to create and administer a conservation easement program. The guide also comes with several Alberta-based resources and templates.
The sections of the guide are:
- The Basics (What is a conservation easement?)
- Conservation Easements and Municipalities (policy, planning, financial, and special considerations
- Administration (preparing, creating, and stewarding a conservation easement and/or program)
Municipal Conservation Easement Guide
Municipal Conservation Easement Fact Sheets
Municipal Conservation Easement Program Resources
(Click on any item to go to it!)
Conservation Easement Web Resources
- CE Alberta Comprehensive Web Resource
- Alberta Conservation Easement Registry
- Canada Land Trust Standards and Practices
- Canada Land Trust Standards and Practices – Backgrounder
Templates and Drafting Resources
- Common conservation easement provisions
- Common conservation easement agreement clauses
- Template Baseline Document Report
- Conservation easement monitoring template
- Strathcona County monitoring template
Example Plans and Policies
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- Examples – Conservation easements used by Alberta municipalities
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- Examples – IDP Excerpts
- Alberta Beach Regional IDP (General Development Policies)
- Cypress / Redcliff / Med Hat – Tri Area IDP
- Gull Lake IDP
- Examples – IDP Excerpts
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- Examples – LUB Excerpts
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- Examples – Conservation easement Bylaw
- Examples – Other policy excerpts
Provincial Legislation
Support Organizations
(Did we miss something important? Let us know!)
Organization
This project was undertaken by
The Miistakis Institute
Status
This guide was released in
October 2017
Supporters
Max Bell Foundation
Anonymous Foundation
ALSA Tools Webinars
ALSA’s Conservation Tools for Municipalities: A Webinar Series
Informational webinars on conservation easements, transferable development credits, conservation offsets, and conservation directives
The Issue / Idea
The Alberta Land Stewardship Act has conservation and stewardship tools that could be of use to municipalities, but it is unclear how they would work for municipalities.
The Project
To respond to the issue, the Miistakis Institute organized a series of webinars on the four conservation and stewardship tools that are included in the Alberta Land Stewardship Act. Experts in each of the topics were asked to present a one-hour webinar, with each followed by a moderated Q&A session.
The webinars presented were:
Conservation Easements: Tuesday January 24, 2017
Kim Good, Legacy Land Trust Society
Transfer of Development Credits: Tuesday January 31, 2017
Guy Greenaway, Miistakis Institute
Conservation Directives: Tuesday February 7, 2017
Jason Unger, Environmental Law Centre
Conservation Offsets: Tuesday February 14, 2017
Dave Poulton, Poulton Environmental Strategies Inc. & the Alberta Association for Conservation Offsets
The webinars were well-received, with approximately 50 people attending each one. The follow-up evaluations saw the content rated as Excellent (9.5%), Very Good (57%), or Good (33%), with none rating the content as Poor or Fair.
Webinar Files
Conservation Easements (slide deck, video, resource)
Transfer of Development Credits (slide deck, video, resource)
Conservation Directives (slide deck, video, resource)
Conservation Offsets (slide deck, video, resource)
Organization
This project was undertaken by
The Miistakis Institute
Status
The webinars were presented in
January and February 2017
Supporters
Max Bell Foundation
Anonymous Foundation